1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to irrigation controllers, and more specifically to a method of programming a decoder-based irrigation controller.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Decoder-based controllers and modular controllers are being used increasingly in the field. Some decoder-based controllers function as “standalone” controllers while other decoder-based controllers comprise a personal computer (PC) that runs central control software and functions as a central irrigation controller for tens (or hundreds) of irrigation stations. Irrigation control signals are distributed to the stations using a field interface unit that encodes the appropriate control signals onto a power signal (e.g., a sinusoidal alternating power signal) applied to a two-wire path. The decoders are coupled to the two-wire path to derive their operational power and decode the control signals from the two-wire path to control the actuation of a station coupled to the decoder.
With current decoder-based controllers, the controller must be programmed to record the association of decoders with stations. This requires that the user manually enter the data into the controller. Further, in many instances, the programming of the controller must be completed before the in-field installation of the decoders. This requires that the user predesignate the association of the decoders with stations. Furthermore, because the information must be entered beforehand, the user is required to install the irrigation controller before the installation of the decoders.
As such, a need exists for a method of programming a decoder-based controller which overcomes the limitation of the current methods of programming the irrigation controller.